"We've seen tremendous interest in South America," said Colin Dyer, JLL's president and CEO. "South America is offering increasing levels of economic growth, and with it, increasing levels of returns in real estate."
Though all of the markets in Latin America are different, they do share some common recent traits. Many of those countries are newly politically stable, their currencies have improved from levels of prior years, infrastructures are being updated and there is increasing market transparency.
Plus, having not generated the buzz of places like China and India helps. "There's still a possibility to compete in a market that is not as investor crowded," said Pedro Azcué, president and CEO of JLL Latin America.
Mexico and Brazil are two economies that investors can not ignore, speakers said. Mexico City, for example, has about 20 million people in its metropolitan area, but its office market is only the size of Boston's. Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world but only 30 industrial properties there are considered class A. And all of South America in under-retailed, speakers said.
That does not mean that some markets don't come without certain barriers. In Argentina and other countries, a few owners control many of the class A office and retail assets and are unlikely to sell any time soon because vacancy rates are low. However, there is ample opportunity to develop new properties.
Speakers stressed that those interested in investing in the region should: know the market where they will invest, find good local development and legal partners and identify and exit strategy.
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